''There is no knowledge that is not power.You have been chosen to represent Earth in Mortal Kombat. Be warned. Although your souls are protected against Shao Kahn's evil; your lives are not. I cannot interfere any longer, as your Earth is now ruled bu the Outworld Gods. These are the words of Rayden.

For centuries, Earth has used Mortal Kombat to defend itself against the Outworld's Emperor Shao Kahn. But, Kahn becomes frustrated by failed attempts at taking Earth through tournament battle. He enacts a plan whih began 10,000 years ago. During this time Kahn had a queen. Her name was Sindel and her young death was unexpected. Kahn's shadow priests, led by Shang Tsung, made it so Sindel's spirit would someday be reborn. Not on the Outwworld, but on the Earth Realm itself. This unholy act gives Shao Kahn the power to step through the dimensional gates and reclaim his queen. Thus enabling him to finally seize the Earth Realm.

Upon reaching the portal into Earth, Shao Kahn slowly transforms the planet into a part of the Outworld itself. Kahn strips the Earth of all human life, claiming every soul as his own. But there are souls which Kahn cannot take. These souls belong to the warriors chosen to represent Earth in a new Mortal Kombat. The remaining humans are scattered throughout the planet. Shao Kahn sends an army of fierce Outworld Warriors to find and eliminate them.

After the first tournament, Sonya Blade turned up missing. Jax then embarked on a rescue mission into the Outworld. He found Sonya being held captive with her nemesis Kano. In freeing Sonya, Jax also frees Kano. Kano then uses the chance to escape arrest.

The ultimate advancement in Lin Kuei technology comes with the creation of the first cyber-assassin. They begin converting their human ninjas into soulless machines. But Sub-Zero refuses to take part and is marked for death by his own clan.

After winning the first Mortal Kombat and escaping from the Outworld, Liu Kang looks to the future. He begins training a new generation of Shaolin alongside Kung Lao. But nothing could prepare them for the unexpected Outworld invasion..."

This is the plot for Mortal Kombat 3, tying the previous two games and this one together. This FAQ contains a comprehensive move list, character bios, cheat codes, a pros and cons list for using each character, and some frequently asked questions for Mortal Kombat 3 for the Genesis. I've also read that a lot of people are having trouble with this game, and I have added a Tips and Hints section to help overcome the seemingly brutal AI.

Mercy: To perform a Mercy, it's the same for every character. Hold Run and Press Down, Down.

This can only be done on the third round of a match and MUST be done to perform an animality. It grants the opponent a tiny bit of health back and must be executed just like a fatality, when you're prompted to "FINISH HIM/HER!"

Liu Kang: After the Outworld invasion, Liu Kang finds himself the prime target of Kahn's extermination squads. He is the shaolin champion and has thwarted Kahn's schemes in the past. Of all the humans, Kang poses the greatest threat to Shao Kahn's rule.

Kung Lao: Kung Lao's plan to reform the White Lotus society comes to a halt when Shao Kahn's invasion takes the Earth by storm. As a chosen warrior, Lao must use his greatest fighting skills to bring down Shao Kahn's reign of terror.

Sindel: She once ruled the Outworld at Shao Kahn's side as his queen. Now, 10,000 years after her untimely death, she is reborn on Earth. Her evil intent is every match for Shao Kahn's tyranny. She is the key to his occupation of Earth.

Lt. Sonya Blade: Sonya disappeared after the first tournament, but was later rescued from the Outworld by Jax. After returning to Earth, she and Jax try to warn the U.S. government of the looming Outworld menace. Lacking proof, they watch helplessly as Shao Kahn begins his invasion.

Maj. Jax Briggs: After failing to convince his superiors of the coming Outworld menace, Jax behings to covertly prepare for future battle with Kahn's mintions. He outfits both arms with indestructible bionic implants. This is a war Jax is prepared to Win.

Kano: Thought to have been killed in the first tournament, he is instead found in the Outworld where he once again escapes capture by Lt. Sonya Blade. Before the actual Outworld invasion, Kano convinces Shao Kahn to spare his soul. Kahn needs someone to teach his warriors how to use Earth's weapons. Kano is the man to do it.

Shang Tsung: Tsung is Shao Kahn's lead sorceror. He once fell out of favor with his emperor, after failing to win the Earth realm through tournament battle. But the ever scheming Shang Tsung is instrumental in Kahn's conquest of Earth. He has now been granted more power than ever.

Sheeva: She was hand picked by Shao Kahn to serve as Sindel's personal protector. She becomes suspicious of Shao Kahn's loyalty toward her race of Shokan, when he places Motaro as the leader of his extermination squads. In the Outworld, Motaro's race of Centaurians are the natural enemy of the Shokan.

Sub-Zero: The ninja returns unmasked. He was betrayed by his own ninja clan-the Lin Kuei. He broke sacred codes of honor by leaving the clan and is marked for death. But unlike the ninja of old, his pursuers come as machines. He must not only defend against the Outworld menace, but must also elude his soulless assassins.

Sektor: Sektor is actually the code name for unit LK-9T9. He was the first of three prototype cybernetic ninjas. Ninjas built by the Lin Kuei. Sektor was once a human assassin trained by the Lin Kuei. He volunteered for automation because of his loyalty for the clan. Sektor ruvives the Outworld invasion-he has no soul to take.

Cyrax: Cyrax is unit LK-4D4, the second of three prototype cybernetic ninjas built by the Lin Kuei. Like his counterparts, his last programmed command is to find and terminate the rogue ninja, Sub-Zero. Without a soul, Cyrax goes undetected by Shao Kahn and remains a possible threat against his occupation of Earth.

Nightwolf: Works as a historian and preserver of his people's culture. When Kahn's portal opens over North America, Nightwolf uses the magics of his Shamen to protect his tribe's sacred land. This area becomes a vital threat to Kahn's occupation of the Earth.

Stryker: When the Outworld portal opens over a large city in North America, panic and chaos rage out of control. Kurtis Stryker was the leader of a riot control brigade when Shao Kahn began taking souls. He finds himself the lone survivor of a city once populated by millions.

Kabal: As a chosen warrior, his identity is a mystery to all. It's believed that he is the survivor of an attack by Shao Kahn's extermination squads. As a result, he is viciously scarred and kept alive only by artificial respirators and a rage for ending Shao Kahn's conquest.

-His ice puddle is great for tripping up anyone, especially the AI. It can take you a long way through the roster, especially if you're close enough to the point where the puddle will spawn right under them.

-His Ice Shower can thankully freeze Shao Kahn, which will give you a ton of breathing room.

-Sub-Zero's ice clone can be put right in the way for Nightwolf and Shao Kahn's shoulder charge attacks, as well as Kano's cannonball, and Liu Kang's Bicycle Kick.

Cons:

-His ice shower leaves him extremely vulnerable to many attacks, and it can easily be dodged.

-The same applies for his ice puddle, because the animation takes so long.

-Teleporting sends him flying up into the air, making it easy to kick on the way up and back down.

-Kung Lao's spin will draw in enemies close to him and do some damage, which can be much better than a block if timed correctly.

-Using the teleport kick is just as good as the cyborgs' teleport punches.

Cons:

-Timing and proximity are really important for the spin attack, otherwise you run the risk of getting hit by a projectile.

-While the teleport can be useful, it's best not to spam it, lest your opponent duck and uppercut you right out of the sky.

-His repetoire against the two final enemies of the game is really limited in terms of using attacks to gain the upper hand. You'll have to not rely so much on special attacks and a little moreso on luck to defeat them.

-Kung Lao's hat throw speed as been nerfed in this game, and now it has an arc.

-Can turn into any one of the playable characters. Depending on who he turns into, refer to the other pros and cons in this list.

-Shang Tsung does have is own playstyle though, and it can take some mind games to use it to destroy your opponent depending on the difficulty level or skill of your friend.

-His flaming attack is extremely spammable and can deal great damage if you keep it up, so long as the enemy keeps falling for it without blocking it. Still, the triple flaming heads are difficult to work around.

-Depending on the character he's turned into at the end of the match, he can do their fatality.

-He can now summon fireballs from the ground, which will juggle an opponent right to you.

Cons:

-While his flaming skulls attack can do some major damage, it *can* be worked around (difficult as it may be), and this method becomes lost.

-For other cons, refer to the other characters as the flaming skulls are his only unique attack.

-The super kick is a fast, powerful attack that will send your enemy flying if it connects.

-The bicycle kick will carry him over Jax' ground punch attack, which will grant you a guaranteed connection.

-His low and high fireballs can be used for some great mind games against your opponent.

-Pressing either combination for the fireball attacks in mid-air will launch a fireball in the air, which is great to throw off your enemies.

Cons:

-Can be caught in Smoke's spear while performing the bicycle kick, setting you up for a free hit, so be careful when using it. Attacks that can also hit him mid-bicycle include Sektor's missles, Cyrax' web, Sheeva's teleport stomp, her fireball attack, Sindel's Scream, Kung Lao's hat throw, Sub-Zero's ice clone, Motaro's fireball, Shao Kahn's projectile, and Jax' as well.

-While his fireball attacks are fast, his cool down time for them feel pretty drawn out, more-so than they really are because it's a very easy attack to see coming.

-His flying super kick can be countered by a well-placed jump kick or an uppercut. Kung Lao, Smoke, Sheeva, and Sektor can teleport right out of the way.

-His green net attack will pull an opponent right to you if it connects, and they will be stunned while in the net. Use this for a free shot against them.

-Cyrax' bombs can juggle an opponent. When the hits connect, they send the opponent flying at you. Shoot a far bomb and then a close bomb right after for maximum effect.

-Cyrax can teleport away to the otherside of your opponent, helping you get out of cornering situations.

-Has an air throw ability which will stop enemies right in their tracks if they go for a jump kick or punch, can also be used in the short amount of cool-down time for Sektor's and Kung Lao's teleports.

Cons:

-Cyrax' special abilities have a long cool down time, leaving him exposed to a variety of attacks if his own attacks miss. This is perhaps his only con, and he is arguably the cheapest character in the game.

-Kabal's projectile is one of the faster ones, and it's large to boot.

-The Ground Saw attack gives an element of surprise as it comes from behind the opponent and stuns them for a short period of time, leaving them open for a short window to perform a combo or dash attack followed by a combo, or even just a fireball.

Cons:

-There the Ground Saw does stun, it's for an extremely short amount of time, so you'll have to react very quickly.

-Left exposed for a good amount of time after the projectile is fired, leaving him open for many attacks, especially Nightwolf's reflecting attack if at close range.

-Even if the fireball does connect, he will be open to attacks fired before his own.

As I peruse the board and reviews, I see that many people find this game quite difficult in comparison to it's predecessors. I think I have some advice that might help you out.

-Know your enemy. Know what attacks your opponent can do and how to counter them. Timing and trajectory are key.

-The AI isn't as bright as some people make it out to be. This game is meant to be played faster than it's predecessors, as noted with the ability to run. Many people find Motaro to be the hardest sub-boss in MK history, but he can easily be beaten with jump kick spamming.

-Whenever your opponent gets close (assuming it's the AI anyway), when they are close enough to touch you, they will ALWAYS initiate a sweep kick. Use this to your advantage. Cyrax can easily catch them in his web mid-sweep kick.

-Okay, so Shao Kahn doesn't have a sweep kick to throw him off. Well, he also almost never blocks. He will sometimes like to get right in your face, and you have to fight fire with fire.

Since Shao Kahn almost never blocks, his worst match-ups areCyrax, Smoke, and Sub-Zero as they can stun him with their projectiles indefinately.

-Should Motaro happen to corner you, if your reflexes are fast enough, you can hold back and do jump kicks. Be as fast as you can be, and even though Motaro will block every time, you'll still whittle his life bar down and he won't get to do anything about it.

I hope these tips have helped some of those who find this game incredibly difficult, thank you for reading this FAQ!

Q. Who is that face that keeps appearing in the middle of the character selection screen?

A. That's Smoke, the hidden third Cyber Assassin from the Lin Kuei.

Q. Is Smoke a playable character? If so, how do I unlock him?

A. Smoke is indeed a playable character, please see the Cheats section.

Q. What happened to regular Sub-Zero? And where are Scorpion and Reptile?

A. I know, I know. For whatever reason, they were omitted from this game, but were added to future updates of this game, though with the sacrifice of Mercies and Animalities

Q. What do you mean by updated versions of the game?

A. The next two installments in the series before Mortal Kombat 4 are Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and Mortal Kombat Trilogy. These two games have the same plot as Mortal Kombat 3, but many more characters to choose from.

Q. Why is there no character bio for Smoke?

A. Unfortunately, he doesn't have one, and only has an ending because he's a secret character.

Q. Why don't Shao Kahn and Motaro have fatalities?

A. Because the AI isn't programmed to have them and when they decided to make them playable characters, they were kinda afterthoughts at that point and had to meet a deadline.

Much thanks to Midway for creating this wonderful and challenging entry to the series, and a huge thanks to SBAllen for hosting this FAQ on www.GameFAQs.com! I hope you all found this FAQ useful and hopefully it helped clear up some issues with that seemingly brutal AI. This FAQ was created by Richard "Sour DieseL" Hull (c)2010.